It felt like every hour in the practice hall flew by now I was friends with Chanyeol. Every practice day I made sure I was always on time so I could see him, if not earlier, disregarding whether or not my mum was stumbling around the house with her 100th bottle of the morning.  As the days and weeks we had left before our debut grew smaller my friendship grew stronger with Chanyeol. He always made me smile and ever failed to brighten up my day. I could feel a strong connection between us.

It was a cold February morning. I jogged down the street in my coat and scarf as the cold winter air turned my nose red and my breath cloudy. I lived a few streets down from the practice hall and didn't have a car so running through the frost was my only choice.

"Baekhyunnie!" Chanyeol flung his skinny arms in the air and flashed me a great toothy grin as I hurried into the practice room 10 minutes early. We had both contently agreed the day before to arrive a few minutes before the other members, though it had seemed that Chanyeol had arrived a lot earlier than I imagined as his bags were already piled in the corner by the mirrors with the contents sprawled around them. He was wearing black, baggy jogging bottoms and a white shirt that hung over his skinny shoulders. His hair was messy and curly as if he had just got out of bed but his eyes were happy and awake and smiled at me.

"How long have you been waiting?" I asked.

"Don't worry," he dismissed the question. I assumed he was hiding the truth so I wouldn't feel bad. A thunder of butterflies filled my stomach as he gave me a wide smile. "How are you?" He asked me as he sat down by his bags.

"I'm great, actually" I smiled back as I threw my bags on top of his and sat opposite him. Normally this would've been a lie. Due to my mum's undying habit I often felt very stressed and unhappy but Chanyeol changed that. I couldn't help but feel weightless and excited every time we were together.

"Good! I'm great too," he said. "I wanted to talk to you about something." Chanyeol's smile dropped and I suddenly felt concerned. The light, happy feeling in my belly turned into a violent hurricane that rumbled in the pit of my stomach. Chanyeol shuffled closer and put his hands on my knees. I stared at him trying to hide my consern.

"Ok," I invited him to speak.

"I know we've only been good friend's for a few months now but..." His eyes flickered to the floor beside me. He didn't seem sure of what to say. I jokingly put my hands on his knees, imitating him so he would feel more comfortable. He looked back into my eyes and I smiled. I giggled. I knew we must've looked completely ridiculous sitting opposite one another, holding each other's knees and smiling. I silently hoped another member didn't walk into the practice room and find us in such a daft position.  "I wanted you to know that..." Chanyeol paused again. He sighed as he took his hands off my knees and lent backwards with his legs still crossed. I did the same and he looked away again. "I think you're a great person, Bbaek." His eyes flickered back to my face and he smiled at me awkwardly. Part of me knew that wasn't what he was trying to tell me before but I happily took the compliment.

"I think you're a great person too, Chanyeol," he nodded his head enthusiastically causing his curly hair to bob around. He didn't say anything more, instead he just watched me, fascinated as if I was a museum exhibit. I stared back at his walnut eyes. I was smiling uncontrollably, my lungs tickled and I felt as if they were blooming flowers.

Still curious whether he had told me what he wanted to, I asked, "Is that all you wanted to say?" He looked at the floor again and a glimmer of uncertainty flickered across his face and he took an anticipating breath but before he could say a single word Tao opened the practice hall door. He strolled in with the bottom half of his face buried in his scarf and his hands in his pockets. He had his earphones on and had obviously not noticed us sitting in the corner. Chanyeol chuckled as Tao walked to the opposite corner of the room and threw his backpack against the wall painted with clouds. He slumped down against the wall facing the mirror. His eyes widen as he noticed us giggling at him and he jumped abruptly before realising we were just his fellow members.

Embarassed, he took off his headphones and yelled "Oh my God, you scared me!" eyes still wide. I burst out laughing as well as Chanyeol who threw his head back hysterically. The way he always threw his body into his laugh made me chuckle even more.

"You should've seen your face!" he cried

"Why are you two so early?" Tao changed the subject quickly.

"Me and Baekhyun just wanted to chat a bit before practice," Chanyeol answered for me.

"Aw, cute," Tao smiled teasingly at us as if he knew a secret he wasn't supposed to know before putting his headphones back on and pulling out his phone. "I'll leave you two to it."

I watched as Chanyeol's cheeks began to burn and his eyes grew wider.

I could feel my cheeks suddenly turning red too. Tao didn't think we were anything more than friends did he? I would never let that happen. I would never have a crush on a boy. I like girls, not Chanyeol. Only girls gave me butterflies and made me feel all giggly and excited. Only girls could make me smile uncontrollably and make my lungs feel tickly. Only... Oh God.

Chanyeol turned to look at me. He seemed curious of my reaction. I realise my mouth was wide open and quickly shut it as I looked down. Suddenly the floor became my only interest as I waited for Chanyeol to say something. Expectedly he let out an embarrassed chuckle then let silence fill the room.

After what felt like hours staring at my shoes and fiddling with my laces I finally said "Idiot," Chanyeol perked up slightly surprised by what I had just said. I put on a confident face and looked up. I didn't want Chanyeol to think that what Tao said was true. "Not you, him." I reassured him by nodding towards Tao who was absorbed in his phone screen. Chanyeol smiled and gave a less awkward laugh. I smiled back too.

The practice room door swung open again and Suho walked in followed by Kris. "Early birds!" he called as he spotted us. A small part of me was relieved that Suho broke the embarrassing atmosphere. An even smaller part of me was a bit disappointed me and Chanyeol were no longer alone together.